Networking, DNS, WiFi

I have a configuration problem. I am not an IT specialist, but can easily find my way around a ethernet network and many of its settings. I do not have on-site tech support available and have been told I cannot pay an outside expert to sort things out. This is the situation: we have a windows seven network with 11 computers peer to peer. I have a Cisco wireless router with the DNS turned off; I have a linksys wireless router with the wifi turned off. Whomever set it up, did not leave configuration information. Our wireless devices cannot connect to our network. Our network address is in the 10.0.0.??? range. The linksys router can be easily reset - but not the Cisco. We would love the DNS to work properly and to connect our wifi devices. How do I get this sorted out?

This sounds like an IP problem more than a DNS issue. Look at each machine and find out its IP address and the DNS it is pointing to. It is possible they were all set up individually manually rather than using DHCP. Finding the IP address can be done in a number of ways and a brief search will provide these options. Since you know the IP range, you probably can give your wireless devices IP addresses manually. The last octet cannot e duplicated, so query all the 11 machines and give the wireless clients a different range of last numbers. If one of the routers offers DHCP, you can turn that on in all the machines. DNS sites can also be manually entered into individual machines. See Gibson Research for the free DNS scanner to find the ones that respond quickest to your location. enter them in the various machines manually.

Static IP addresses is the only way the system works currently... so if I configure the wifi devices to use a static IP - the only challenge would be connecting to other networks outside our building using a different IP range... or would this be an issue at all?

We need more info on your set up to be able to comment.
Do you have an outside / internet connection?
Can you access either of the router config pages?
How do the 11 computers connect to the network, wired or wireless? What router / switch connects them?
Why do you have 2 routers and what models are they? We may be able to provide reset info.
What DNS is configured on the working machines? You can use "ipconfig /all" from a Command Prompt to find out - post the output here would help.

[QUOTE=Paul T;939687]We need more info on your set up to be able to comment.
Do you have an outside / internet connection?
The internet connection works for the wired machines; it does not for the wireless devices.

Can you access either of the router config pages?
Can't access the router config on either the CISCO router or the Linksys router.

How do the 11 computers connect to the network, wired or wireless? What router / switch connects them?
11 computers connected to a CISCO hub and the separate CISCO router. They are all wired. It is all CAT 5 ethernet. They all have a static IP address

Why do you have 2 routers and what models are they? We may be able to provide reset info.
Two routers required to ensure adequate signal strength from the router location in the middle of the building (lots of partitions and walls). The linksys router is used primarily to enhance the WiFi signal; the CISCO router does all the work and manages the switch.

What DNS is configured on the working machines? You can use "ipconfig /all" from a Command Prompt to find out - post the output here would help.
We have an openDNS account 208.??.222.222. I keep refering to these issues as a DNS problem. It may be closer to the truth to think that I have a DHCP issue, not a DNS problem.

DHCP is the correct way to configure your system because all settings are in one location and the machines will use those settings. You have a major issue because you cannot access the routers to set up the DHCP server so you are stuck with manual config, unless you can reset one or both routers.

How does the Linksys do wifi if you have wifi turned off?
If you can reset the Linksys you may be able to turn on DHCP for the wireless so you would only need to provide the wifi password to connect. Have you tried the default passwords for the routers?